Wednesday, April 17, 2013

BOSTON BOMBING, SELECTIVE COMPASSION
AND THE “MUSLIM FACTOR”

By Gulamhusein Abba.

As I write this (morning of Tuesday, April 16) my thoughts,
my heart, my sympathies, my condolences, my everything is with the people of
Boston, especially those families who have lost a loved one and those who
lie injured.

What a terrible tragedy. A day of rejoicing was reduced to a
day of death and mourning. What could be more despicable than to launch an
attack on such a day, a day designated as Patriots Day, and target those who
were running to raise thousands if not millions of dollars for worthy causes,
including those related to the recent Sandy Hook tragedy?

The noise of the explosions; the smoke
billowing upwards; nails, pellets and shrapnel flying all over; those who had
come to cheer others running, themselves running as they had never run in their
lives before; dismembered limbs littering Boylston Street; blood all over;
frightened people running helter-skelter trying to find escape routes, entering
stores and exiting from backdoors into an adjoining street.

Family members attempting to contact those who had gone to
the Marathon, to ascertain if they were safe, only to find that cell phones
were dead.

First responders rushing in to tend to the injured. Medical
workers treating patients with severed limbs and children with severe burns in
a temporary medical tent at the road race.

Imagine the fear of those on the scene. The anxiety of their
loved ones. The desperation of those trying to contact them.

Two people, one of hem an eight year old boy, dead; 160
injured, 16 critically; several with a limb missing, at least 4 with their legs
amputated in the hospital; nails sticking out of a girl’s body.

There was no need to imagine all this. Videos being
projected round the clock on TV screens showed the unimaginable horror and
tragedy in stark detail. Watching, I felt I was there. Having suffered tragedy
and fear myself, the whole scene became very personal and palpable.

I was glued to the TV till well past midnight. Had a very
disturbed sleep and was back watching TV as soon as I woke up the next morning.

A myriad thoughts and emotions ran through me.

One of the things I greatly appreciated was that President
Barack Obama lost no time in going on the air and telling the nation that the authorities
did not yet know who is behind the Boston Marathon bombing and urging caution
in assigning blame. "We still do not know who did this, or why, and people
shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts," he said.

Another fact that struck me was the contrast between what
was happening here and what was happening in other parts of the world.

In Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere around the
world, such horror and tragedy did not occur once in a blue moon. They were a
daily occurrence, routine. Drones buzzed
overhead in the skies 24 hours a day. The people huddled in fear, not knowing when a bomb or a
missile would swoop down on them, obliterating their home and killing or
paralyzing them or their loved ones. When it did and all hell broke loose, no
first responders rushed to tend to them.

And not just two or
twenty six died but hundreds did.

In fact, just a few days before the Boston bombing, a NATO air attack in the
Shigal district of restive Kunar province, Afghanistan , killed at least 18
people, including as many as 11 innocent children. There was no ambiguity as to
who had killed them and how. They were killed by a NATO air-strike.

Yet, though these tragic occurrences are
far worse than what happened at Boston or Sandy hook, they receive hardly any
coverage, if at all, unlike the round the clock coverage given by the media in
the US to Sandy Hook shooting and Boston bombing. Consequently, neither those
who suffer so grievously nor those who die so ingloriously receive any sympathy
or condolences or support from any American. No American tears are shed for
them.

Can compassion be selective? Should it be?

Very disturbing was that,
ignoring the appeal made by none other than the President himself, the
anti-Islamists in this great country immediately started trying to implicate
Muslims!

For example, one of Fox News
contributors, Eric Rush, in response to the Boston attack tweeted -- then
deleted -- what he claimed was a joke about rounding up Saudis and killing
them.

Though Eric deleted his original
tweets, in later messages he called his critics "Islamic apologist
worms" and "vermin."

The New York Post published a report, under
a screaming headline “FBI grills Saudi man in Boston bombings”,
claiming that a "Saudi National" had been taken "into
custody" by police at a local Boston hospital. In Its initial stories the
paper said that the person taken into custody was "identified as a
suspect." In fact, nobody had been taken into custody and nobody had been identified as a suspect.

Anti-Islamic blogger Pamela
Geller was quick to jump on the New York Post's report, labeling the tragedy
“jihad” on her blog, Atlas Shrugged.

Others, while not directly
accusing Muslims of being somehow responsible for the bombing, asked the
question that regularly pops up in such situations: Where is the Muslim condemnation?
Implying that the silence of the Muslims itself proves that the Muslims
in America are salivating at the massacre!

So where WAS, where IS the Muslim
indignation, outrage, condemnation, expressions of sorrow, grief and sympathy
in the Boston bombing?

According to Sound Vision, “There were many Muslims in the
Marathon, both as victims, as well as doctors trying to save lives…..….
condemnation by Muslims was not reported by the national media … Radio Islam
was on air reaching 60,000 plus listeners sympathizing with the victims within
hours of this tragedy.

“The Muslim community in the
United States and abroad began issuing their condolences and condemnations of
the Boston incident within hours of receiving news reports about the attack.
However, these statements of sincerity and sadness receive little to no
attention in the majority of media outlets, specially the Radio and the TV.”

This is sad -- and dangerous. As
pointed out in the said report: “Omitting Muslim statements of condemnation
directly leads to Islamophobia, translating into deadly hate – attacks on
Masjids and Islamic centers, Islamic schools, and anyone who ‘looks Muslim’.

”

As I was about to close this
writing, the reassuring words of Obama were ringing in my ears: "We still do not know who did this, or
why, and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts,"
Obama said. "But make no mistake: we
will get to the bottom of this, we will find out who did this, we'll find out
why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will
feel the full weight of justice."

This triggered a faint echo from
the past. Bush, responding to the 9/11 attacks, speaking about flushing out the
perpetrators, tracking them down, holding them accountable, bringing them to justice
or taking justice to them.

Suddenly, out of nowhere
frightening questions formed.

Did families and friends of innocent men, women,
children and babies killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine ever
say to themselves that they would track down the perpetrators, hold them
accountable and bring them to justice or take justice to them?

About Me

Gulamhusein A. Abba is an 88-year-old writer with more than 60 years in journalism. He is originally from Bombay (now Mumbai), where his writings have been published in almost all the important news media, in English, Urdu, Gujarati and Marathi, and where he functioned in various capacities, including reporter, news and political analyst, columnist, editor and publisher.
He was also a trade unionist,
peace and justice activist and took part in political activities.
As a trade unionist he organized the maritime petty officers and the film studio workers.
He founded and was the Chairman of the Rule of Law Committee and Taxi Users' Association
In the US, he is the chairman of Justice for Palestinians Committee, and, The Danbury Committee for World Peace.
In May of 2011, The Danbury Bar Association conferred on him the prestigious Honorary AMERICAN DREAM AWARD.